Tension in Arkadia House was high today as everyone got ready for the Polis Kickball Tournament. No one was as excited as Octavia, but everyone was still buzzing around to get ready to go, and nerves were as high as the hopes that Arkadia would finally win this year. Lexa hadn't been as focused on kickball lately what with all that had been going on between her and Clarke, but now that the day was finally here, Lexa found herself more than a little nervous as well. She had participated in every one of their mini-tournaments, and it seemed like her plan was working. They had lost almost every single practice game, and she knew that Arkadia's statistics for the season were at an all-time low. She only hoped that this plan would help Arkadia to win.
After tying her shoelaces, Lexa gave herself a quick once-over in the mirror, running her hand over her neat ponytail and nodding at her reflection as a way to convince herself that she could do this. She was just about to go downstairs to join her housemates when she felt Clarke come up behind her and begin rubbing her tense shoulders. Clearly, her nervousness was much more obvious than she had thought. Or maybe Clarke just knew her too well to miss it. Lexa slumped into the girl that had stolen her heart, sort of surprised that Clarke was back in here at all. She wondered if the blonde had seen her nerves a long time ago.
The two of them had stopped changing in front of each other ever since they had agreed to take things slow, not wanting to tease one another, especially on a serious day like this one. Clarke had changed in the bathroom today, while Lexa changed in their shared room, and the brunette wondered why Clarke had even come back in the first place. Perhaps she just wanted to check on Lexa after having picked up on how nervous she was, or maybe Lexa was taking too long, and everyone else was already waiting for her downstairs. She hoped that it wasn't the latter.
Lexa turned to capture Clarke's lips in a chaste kiss, hoping to draw strength from the familiar feeling of the blonde's soft pink flesh against her own. Clarke only allowed it for a second before pulling away again with a sympathetic look. "Nervous?"
Lexa nodded, meeting blue eyes in the mirror. "Aren't you?"
"I think everyone is, Lex, but you seem extra nervous."
Lexa bit her lip and tried to pretend that she didn't notice the way that Clarke's eyes were drawn like magnets to the action. She quickly let it go. "It's just that everyone is so sure that we're going to win, and Octavia is so excited, and it's my plan that's got everyone's hopes up. What if we lose? I don't want us to lose."
"Look at me." Clarke turned Lexa around, bringing her hands up to cup her girlfriend's cheeks. "If we win, that would be amazing, but it doesn't matter if we lose. I mean, everyone will be disappointed for a bit, but they'll get over it, and we'll have another shot next semester. Just because you came up with the plan doesn't mean that you are responsible for the outcome of the tournament. We all share the responsibility equally, so don't worry about whether we're going to win or not. Let's just get out there and have fun with our housemates because, even if we lose, we get to spend the entire day together having a blast."
Lexa's shoulders slumped. "I suppose you're right, Clarke."
"I am right, Lexa," Clarke said firmly. "Say it. 'It's okay if we don't win.'"
"It's okay if we don't win," Lexa repeated, but she wasn't sure if she believed it. She would be incredibly disappointed, especially since she had wanted this almost as badly as Octavia during her freshman year. She wanted it pretty badly this year, too, not only for her teammates, but also for herself.
Clarke saw right through her and was clearly determined to dispel Lexa's nerves. She squished Lexa's cheeks together. "Say it again."
Lexa tensed up at the tight grip on her face, but her fear was quickly driven away when she saw how ridiculous she looked in the mirror. "It's okay if we don't win."
Lexa giggled at the sight. "You're right, Clarke. I don't know why I'm so uptight about this, but I will try my best not to be."
Clarke smiled at her, and Lexa smiled back, giving her the smile that she knew Clarke loved more than anything else, the one that the blonde had drawn and labeled her favorite. Lexa couldn't help but give it after being distracted from something that was bothering her immensely. She was rewarded with an even wider smile from Clarke, and she tried not to let her nerves rise again as she grabbed Clarke's hand in hers, and they headed out the door.
The Arkadia team got out to the kickball fields with fifteen minutes to spare. They didn't play at the school because their school only had two fields, and they would need many more to fit in all of the houses. Polis Boarding School owned a wide expanse of land that was located across the street about a mile from Jaha's ice cream shop. They used it to build a total of eight kickball fields so that this tournament would be possible to complete in a day. Since there were thirty-two houses in total, Lexa knew that they would be playing five games today if they made it all the way through. She kept a firm grip on Clarke's hand, feeling her nerves shoot through her again as the team waited for Raven and Octavia to get back from looking at the lineup.
When they saw the two girls returning from the wall that everyone was crowded around, many eager heads turned their way to hear who they were matched against first.
"Desert House," Raven told them when she and Octavia reached the group.
"No," Emori groaned. "I was hoping it would be Azgeda."
"We should be fine," Lincoln said. "Desert House isn't much better than Azgeda. We're really lucky we didn't get matched up with Mount Weather, or any of the top teams, for that matter."
"Yeah, but we're used to playing against Azgeda. I mean, I'm used to playing with them. So, we know who's good and who's not and where to kick the ball. You know, that sort of stuff," Emori pointed out. "But yeah, it is a really great thing that we aren't playing Mount Weather."
"We'll probably play against them anyway, though, if we make it all the way." Jasper pointed out. "I mean, they've won the past two tournaments."
"We will end up playing them, but we can't worry about that right now," Lexa said. "We need to just relax and focus while we're playing an easy team."
Octavia whistled then to get everyone's attention, and Lexa turned to the sound, sure that a pep talk was going to follow. "Okay, guys, I realize that we're going to be paired against Mount Weather eventually, and that is intimidating because they always beat us, but if we can make it to the championship, that would be a feat in itself. We have never been in the championship before as long as I have been here, and I'd love to make it. So, with the weaker teams, we stick with Lexa's plan. Make it look like we suck in the earlier innings, and then come back and cream them at the end. That way, they are overconfident throughout the entire game, and when we do win, it will make it look like a fluke to any teams that might be watching. Most importantly, though, let's just have fun, guys. Even if we don't win, it'll have been worth it to play because I get to spend the day with all of you."
"That is so sweet, Octavia," Emori said with a teasing smirk. "I wish I could say the same." She stuck her hand out in front of her. "Let's win this thing."
The rest of the team piled their hands on top of Emori's. "One, two, three, Arkadia!"
On their way to the field for the first game, Lexa passed some kids from Desert House, who were talking about how they were so glad that they got paired up with Arkadia in the first round because it would be an easy win. Lexa smiled in satisfaction at the fact that her plan was already working. Clearly, their track record of losing most of their practice games to Azgeda had gotten around the school.
Even though most normal kickball games lasted for five or six innings, the students of Polis only played for three in the tournament so that they had plenty of time to finish all of the games in one day. In the first inning, Lexa made sure to keep her kicks extra sloppy, and it seemed like her teammates had the same idea. Arkadia still scored a run, but Desert House easily scored two. The other team got even more cocky when Arkadia scored no runs in the second inning, and Lexa smiled when Desert only got one. In the third and final inning, Arkadia brought their A-game. Lexa was proud when she kicked a home run with loaded bases in that last inning, scoring four runs in total for her team. There was no way for Desert House to catch back up after that inning, and Lexa and her friends cheered at the game's end. The members of the other team looked completely put out, but Lexa and her friends were so overcome with glee that they didn't even seem to care.
After Arkadia was ushered off of the field, they got to sit on the sidelines and watch the next game take place, as there were too many houses in the first round for them all to play at once. The game in front of them was Azgeda House versus Blue Cliff House, and whoever emerged as the victor would become Arkadia's next opponent.
"Man, I hope Azgeda wins." Emori crossed her fingers.
Lexa turned her head to look at her friend. "I think we'll be fine against either one of these teams. Neither of them is very good."
"I know, but Azgeda is worse," Emori argued, "and like I said before, we're more familiar with that team."
"She's right," Anya agreed with her sister. "Azgeda is much worse. They haven't advanced past the first round in two years, and even then, they only made it to round three. Blue Cliff House has been to the semifinals twice in that time."
Lexa nodded to her best friend, thankful for the statistics, and then she turned a teasing smirk to the girl that was sitting right next to her. "You just want to root for your boyfriend's team."
"Maybe." Emori's face turned pink at the accusation.
"You also want to play against him, so you can get the chance to crush him," Lexa said with a knowing smile.
Emori playfully rolled her eyes. "Shut up, Lexa."
Lexa smiled cheekily at the confirmation that she was right. She turned her gaze to the rest of her teammates, noticing that they were all supposedly rooting for Azgeda as well. Lexa looked past Clarke and her friends, laughing out loud when she heard Jasper and Monty, who were seated farthest away from her.
"Woo! Go, Ontari," Jasper yelled to the girl on first base.
"Looking good out there, Ontari," Monty shouted.
The Azgeda girl glared murderously at them, and both boys devolved into fits of laughter. Lexa caught their eyes, tilting her head in the direction of the furious girl, and they both nodded to her in encouragement.
"You got this, Ontari!" Lexa added her voice to the mix.
If Lexa had been close enough, she would have heard Ontari actually snarl when her glare fixed onto the laughing brunette. Clarke looked curiously at Lexa from her spot beside her roommate.
"That's the girl who always takes the fall for Jasper and Monty's pranks," Lexa explained. "I helped them prank Mrs. Tawney that time when she gave us all detention."
"What did you do?" Clarke asked with an amused smile.
"We may have smashed chocolate cake in the teacher's textbook, left a water balloon on her chair, and superglued her mouse to her desk," Lexa said, unable to stop herself from giggling. "Believe me, it was hilarious. Even more so when we framed Ontari. She got suspended for three days."
Clarke cracked a smile, shaking her head at her girlfriend, and Lexa kissed her cheek before the blonde turned back to whatever conversation that she had previously been having with Octavia.
After the game between Azgeda and Blue Cliff, Arkadia was overjoyed to see that Azgeda emerged victorious. Against their own plans, Lexa and her teammates were all overconfident going in to that game, but it did not seem to affect them. They still easily beat the opponent that they normally practiced against.
Next, they were matched against Trishana House, and Lexa could see that everybody's confidence had dwindled down. Trishana wasn't one of the best houses in the tournament, but they were pretty good players. They had always proved to be a good match for Arkadia in the past and had even beaten them. Lexa felt her palms becoming sweaty as the game began, and she could only hope that Trishana thought that Arkadia would be an easy win and that they had only gotten this far through luck.
The members of Trishana House did believe that at first, but they quickly realized that Arkadia was still a match for them and stepped up their game. The Arkadia team played hard, but their hopes were a little dashed when the other team scored five runs in the second inning, leaving them behind by two. However, they were extremely lucky when Trishana had a less than stellar last inning, clearly tired from the games they had played before. Arkadia did well, and they ended up winning by three runs.
"We made it to the semifinals!" Lexa exclaimed when the game was over.
"I am so excited, guys," Octavia said happily, eyes shining as she grabbed Lincoln's hand. "We could actually win this year."
"I wonder who we'll be playing next," Bellamy said.
"Not Mount Weather, not Mount Weather," the whole team began to chant quietly, like Harry Potter hoping that he wouldn't be placed in Slytherin.
When the round had finally ended, the school headmaster, a burly man named Gustus, stepped forward to announce which teams would be matched together in the semifinals games. The entire team from Arkadia House clasped each other's hands, still hoping against hope that they would not get paired with Mount Weather first.
"Congratulations to all four of the teams that have made it this far," Gustus began. "I am very proud of all of you for your hard work and dedication to the game. You will be given an hour break now to head back to your houses for lunch, and then the tournament will resume. If your house has already been knocked out, then of course, it is not required for you to return, but I still hope to see many of you back here to support your classmates. Now, without further ado, here is the lineup." He paused, allowing the suspense to grow, and Lexa knew that she was probably cutting off all of the circulation in Clarke and Anya's hands. "Mount Weather House will be playing Delphi House, and Arkadia House will be matched against Floudon House."
"I can't believe we're playing Floudon House next," Raven said in despair. "We're gonna lose."
They were all back at their house now, where Indra had a quick lunch of sandwiches waiting for them, and everyone's nerves were running high as they thought about the game that they would soon be playing.
"No, we're not," Octavia assured her. "We're gonna win, remember?"
"Yeah," Bellamy agreed. "At least we're not playing Mount Weather yet."
"But still, Foudon House has been in the championship for the past two semesters," Raven argued, tossing her head back to glare at the ceiling. "Why couldn't we have been paired with Delphi?"
"Maybe, we'll get lucky, and Delphi will beat Mount Weather," Clarke suggested, and Lexa smiled at her girlfriend's optimism. "Then, we won't have to play them at all."
As cute as her girlfriend was being at the moment, Lexa knew that that was never going to happen. Mount Weather was the hardest team to beat because they had the best players in the school, and there had never been a tournament where Mount Weather hadn't made it into the championship. At least, not as long as Lexa had been going to school there.
"That's never going to happen," Raven whined, voicing Lexa's thoughts aloud. "No one can beat Mount Weather."
The others didn't argue with her, and Lexa felt a flare of determination shoot up within her. They couldn't talk like that, couldn't give up just because Mount Weather was too hard to beat. Arkadia needed to stay confident and fight back. It was the only way that they were ever going to win this tournament.
"We will," Lexa said, confidence lacing her tone. "We can beat Mount Weather."
Octavia nodded brusquely, a spark of determination in her hazel eyes as they met green. "Agreed."
The game against Floudon House was intense, and Lexa's teammates were more focused than she had ever seen them, working extremely hard to keep up with the other team. Clarke was focusing especially hard, and Lexa had to admit that the blonde was so much better at kickball than she had been when she had first started out. She knew that Clarke was secretly proud of herself for being decent at a sport.
The two teams were neck and neck throughout the entire game, but Arkadia emerged victorious by one run, thanks to a stellar kick by Octavia that sent both she and Bellamy across home base in the last inning. Everyone was screaming when it happened, and Lexa was pulled into a hug by Clarke, still trying to process the fact that they had just won.
"We're going to the championship!" Octavia squealed, locking eyes with Lexa as Clarke pulled away from her. Lexa nodded to the other girl with a wide grin.
"First time ever." Emori slapped Octavia's hand in a high five.
"Don't get too excited yet," Bellamy said to his overexcited housemates. "We still have to play Mount Weather."
Octavia's shoulders slumped a bit. "They won, then?"
Bellamy nodded, and Raven scoffed at him. "Don't be such a sourpuss, Bell. Even if we don't beat Mount Weather, it is still beyond exciting that we got into the championship. Besides, we can beat Mount Weather, remember?"
Lexa nodded along as Bellamy agreed, leaning down to give his girlfriend a chaste kiss.
The game against Mount Weather wasn't going as well as Lexa had hoped. It was the last inning and Mount Weather was still ahead by two runs, meaning that Arkadia needed at least three to win the tournament. Octavia stepped up first, and Lexa watched as the girl kicked the ball solidly over everyone's head, easily reaching second base before the other team got ahold of it. Lexa cheered excitedly, squeezing Clarke's hand, as Raven stepped up next. The girl gave the ball a nice clean kick, racing out to first base. Lexa's veins thrummed with excitement, knowing that they were so close to winning this thing. That was, until Harper caught the ball in her hands, meaning that Raven was out. The brunette looked up at her friend with betrayal in her eyes, but Harper just shot her a wink before tossing the ball back to the pitcher. Lexa wished that Harper could be a part of the Arkadia team, like she was in the practice rounds. She was a good player, and the team hurt a bit without her.
When Emori stepped up to the plate, Lexa was reminded that her team hadn't really been hurt as badly as she had previously thought. Emori was a really good player as well, but since she normally played with Azgeda in the practice rounds, at least Arkadia had gained her back for the loss of Harper. Emori's kick went high, like Raven's, but it went to the opposite side of the field from Harper, and the people there did not catch it until it had hit the ground. Emori made it to second base, and Lexa threw her hands in the air when Octavia made it home, still not releasing Clarke's hand and forcing it up as well.
One run down. Lexa thought as she watched her best friend step up to kick next. Two more to go.
Anya must have been extremely nervous or something because her kick did not make it out of the diamond, a boy named Cage easily grabbing it out of the air.
"You're out," he sneered.
Lexa curled her lip in disgust at the arrogant boy, but she was surprised that Anya was so nervous. The older girl was always so calm, and Lexa knew that Anya must want this pretty badly, just like the rest of them, if she had had such an off kick. Anya's nerves certainly didn't show though, her appearance exuding its usual calm, and Lexa wondered if maybe there were other times when her best friend was nervous, and she just couldn't tell. Still, Lexa's brows knitted with worry when she realized that one more strikeout would mean the end of the game. Mount Weather would win again.
"Oh no," she heard Octavia say from somewhere behind her.
Clarke swallowed thickly in anticipation because she was up next. Lexa could already see the extreme nervousness that was in the blonde's eyes. There was a ton of pressure on the poor girl, so Lexa squeezed her hand and tried to be as reassuring as possible. "We're just out here to have fun, Clarke. I know that we made it farther than most of us might have dared to believe, but at the end of the day, it's all just for fun. It doesn't matter if we don't win. All that matters is that I believe in you, Clarke. You can do this."
Clarke nodded in appreciation, giving Lexa a tiny smile. "Good luck kiss?"
"Of course." Lexa leaned forward to touch her lips to Clarke's, the two of them only remaining in the lip lock for a fraction of a second before Clarke was pulling back to head out onto the field. Lexa shot her one last reassuring smile, and Clarke managed to send one in return.
Lexa clung to the fence as she watched her girlfriend step up to the home plate, hoping that Clarke would stay as calm as she could and just focus on kicking, rather than all of the hopes that were currently riding on her back. When the ball came her way, Clarke gave a strong kick. It wasn't the cleanest kick Lexa had ever seen, and she held her breath as it skidded through the grass, sighing in relief when the people on the edges of the diamond missed it, Harper quickly jumping forward to snatch it up as Clarke reached first base and Emori reached third. The Arkadia team erupted into cheers, and Lexa began breathing again, taking deep breaths when she realized that she was up next. Anya and Lincoln wished her good luck, and Lexa left the rest of her teammates, knowing that it was up to her to bring Clarke and Emori home.
She stepped up to home base and squared her shoulders, trying her best to remain calm and treat this as if it were just any other kick. When the pitcher rolled the ball to her, she kicked hard, grinning when the ball sailed over everyone's heads as she sprinted around the diamond and smiling when she noticed Emori cross home. She wondered if she should stay on second when she noticed Maya get hold of the ball in the outfield, but Clarke was already making a mad dash for home, so Lexa continued to third. Lexa held her breath as Maya hurried closer and whipped the ball at Clarke, but it missed the blonde by an inch, and Arkadia erupted into cheers when Clarke passed home.
Lexa continued to race after her, elated and in slight shock that her team had won. Arkadia had actually won. The minute she joined her teammates, she was enveloped in a hug by Anya, Emori quickly joining in, and Lexa squeezed them tight.
"Nice kick, Lexa," Emori praised, and Lexa simply nodded in thanks.
When they all released their grips on each other, Lexa noticed Octavia bouncing excitedly towards her. "That was fantastic, Lexa." Octavia threw her arms around the other brunette excitedly. "We won."
"I know," Lexa said, shaking her head a bit. "I still can't believe it."
When Octavia pulled back, Lexa accepted a high five from a grinning Raven. Before either girl could say anything, Lexa noticed that Clarke was running towards her, and green eyes widened when the blond girl jumped. Thankfully, Lexa recovered quickly and caught the girl in her arms, accepting a deep kiss from her girlfriend. Although the kiss wasn't very heated, it was definitely a step up from the chaste kisses that the two girls had become used to.
"You were amazing out there, Lexa," Clarke murmured against her lips, hands cupping the sides of Lexa's face. "I love you so much right now."
"I love you, too, Clarke," Lexa said, breathless. "You didn't do too bad out there yourself."
Lexa's eyes widened again when Clarke grabbed her ponytail to gently pull her head to the side before pressing her lips to Lexa's neck. It took everything Lexa had not to moan as she pushed Clarke's face further against her.
Lexa was pulled away from her girlfriend when she felt someone yank her ponytail a lot harder than she knew Clarke would, and she was lucky that she didn't drop the other girl as she panicked slightly. She gently lowered Clarke back down to the ground, taking comfort from hooded blue eyes as she turned around to see Raven. She rubbed at the back of her head, wishing that the other girl hadn't yanked so hard. "What was that for?"
"That was to stop you two lovebirds from being so gross in front of everyone. No one wants to see that." Raven pulled a face, but Lexa could still see the amusement in her eyes.
Lexa grumbled under her breath, about to respond when she saw Gustus handing Octavia the Polis Kickball Cup, Arkadia taking it from Mount Weather. The Mount Weather team looked disappointed, but Maya and Harper didn't seem to mind. Both of them had already joined the Arkadia team to give their congratulations. Lexa found that she could not take her eyes off of the Cup, and she couldn't wait to see what it would look like displayed in the front hall of their house.
When the Arkadia team finally got back to their house, there was lots of excited screaming as they gathered around the pedestal in the center of the front hall. Bellamy removed the vase that normally resided there and placed it next to the staircase while Octavia and Lincoln adjusted the Cup in the center. Lexa had to bite back a squeal at how great it looked, squeezing Clarke's hip excitedly. The blonde leaned into her touch, and Lexa placed a quick kiss to the side of her girlfriend's head before turning her attention up again when Indra swept into the room.
"What's going on?" Indra's brows were furrowed, confused as to what all of the commotion was about. Her eyes widened immensely when they landed on the Cup that was now on full display in the center of the hallway. "Is that…you guys did it. I am so proud of you."
Lexa watched on as Indra pulled her nephew into a hug, moving on to hug Octavia afterwards, and making her way around until she had given everyone a hug, letting all of the residents know how proud of them she was. When Indra finished her rounds, she gestured to the living room, clearly about to suggest they all sit down in there for a while so she could hear about the tournament, but Mr. Kane chose that very moment to appear at the top of the stairs.
"How did we do?" he asked as he began to descend them.
"We won!" Octavia bounced up and down with excitement.
"Great work, Arkadia." He gave the students a warm smile. "I hope you're ready to tell me all about it."
"Well, we were all really nervous to begin with, and we were paired against Desert House, but once the game started…" Octavia began to tell the tale of their victory as the twelve of them moved into the living room. Lexa plopped down onto the couch next to Clarke, smiling brightly when the blonde leaned into her, and wrapped an arm around her waist. Everyone was just as excited as Octavia was, and the members of the house could not keep themselves from jumping into the tale many times throughout.
"And then, Lexa stepped up to the plate. The fate of the game was on her shoulders," Octavia said in an overly dramatic fashion. "Keenan rolled the ball to her, and she kicked it clean over everyone else's heads."
"I sprinted through the home base, then," Emori butted in, "but when I looked back, Clarke was making a dash for home behind me."
"Maya had caught the ball, and everyone was on edge as she threw it at Clarke," Raven said.
"But it missed her by the smallest sliver." Octavia held up her thumb and pointer finger to demonstrate, a tiny space in between them. "Then, Clarke raced through home, declaring us the winners."
Excited chatter broke out at the end of their epic tale, and it didn't die down for a good two minutes.
"As I've said, I am quite proud of you," Indra said. "You guys just relax in here, and I'll prepare a celebratory feast."
The students cheered as she rushed off to the kitchen, and Kane stood shortly after. "I have some work to do in my office before dinner. Excellent work today."
A calming quiet settled over the room, and Lexa relaxed further into the couch, wearing a pleased smile. She hadn't been this happy in quite some time. It had felt great to win the Cup today, and it felt even better to be sitting on this couch with her girlfriend, surrounded by all of her friends that she loved so much.
Lexa knew that the silence wouldn't last too long with this group of people, and she wasn't surprised when Raven broke it after a few minutes. "We should probably start studying for our finals soon. The first two are on Wednesday."
Lexa nodded reluctantly. She had forgotten all about finals in the excitement that was brought about by the tournament, and she didn't exactly want to be reminded right now. Raven was right, though. The school had given them the day off tomorrow to prepare for finals, but Lexa groaned internally at the thought that she would be taking tests for three days after that.
"Don't bring that up, Raven," Emori complained. "Nobody want to think about finals right now. I'm just gonna pretend you never said that."
"More importantly, the end of semester dance is on Friday," Octavia was quick to say. "Choosing an outfit for that is way more important than studying."
Raven scowled at her roommate, and Lincoln quickly jumped in before any bickering could start. "Raven's right, O. Studying is probably more important than your outfit to the dance, considering that you'd look good in anything."
Lexa nodded in appreciation of Lincoln's smoothness. She wished that she could be that quick-witted with Clarke. He had managed to compliment Raven and Octavia at the same time, and stop an argument from breaking out. That was a feat in itself, what with how stubborn the two girls were.
As Lexa looked around at all of these people that she was now friends with either again or for the first time, she realized that this was their last week together before the break. For the first time, she realized that she was going to miss these people in the month that they had off from school. She had gotten so used to seeing them every day and loving every minute of it. It was going to be weird for her to go so long without seeing any of her friends even once.
"I can't believe that this is our last week together," Lexa said her thoughts aloud, filling the void that had been created in the conversation.
"You're making it sound like it's our last week together ever. We still have a whole nother semester, silly," Anya pointed out. "Most of you have even longer than that."
"It'll still be weird not seeing you guys for so long after living with you every day." Lexa looked down at her lap.
"I understand what you mean," Raven said. "It's always hard being away from you guys."
While getting the opportunity to go to a top boarding school like Polis was great, being apart over breaks was certainly a downfall. Most of them lived in different states, so it would be really difficult for them all to meet up over the holidays. Lexa knew that Anya and Emori lived in the state of Virginia, where Polis was located, and so did Lincoln, but they all lived hours away from the school. Jasper and Monty were from Ohio. Lexa knew that they had come to the school together, having been best friends since kindergarten. She herself was from North Carolina, and she knew that Bellamy and Octavia were from the same state. She was pretty sure that Raven was from Delaware, and Clarke was from…it was in that moment that Lexa realized that she didn't actually know where Clarke was from and hence, where she would be spending winter break. The thought scared her a tiny bit, and she wondered how on earth she had not thought to ask before.
"Clarke, where exactly is it that you live?" she asked.
Many other heads turned to look questioningly at Clarke, and Lexa realized that this was a question that no one knew the answer to. Clarke looked slightly surprised, as if she hadn't even realized that she had never mentioned where she lived before. Lexa understood though. It was tied to her past, and that was something that Clarke just didn't want to think about.
Lexa was shocked at the fact that she had agreed so easily to spend the break with Clarke when she didn't even know where it was that she would be going. As long as Clarke was there, she didn't really care. She knew that showed some big commitment on her part.
Clarke turned to Lexa with a sheepish grin, and Lexa thought that she could detect a hint of regret, or maybe doubt, in blue eyes. "New York. Right there in the city. I'm sorry I didn't tell you before." Clarke's eyes fell down to her lap. "I know that the city is loud and crowded and really overwhelming. I didn't even think about that when I asked you. I'll understand if you want to back out."
Lexa shook her head, allowing a small smile to play out on her lips. "No, it's fine. I'd actually kind of love to see the city, and there's no one I'd rather see it with than you."
"Okay, what are we missing here?" Emori interrupted, clearly voicing the thoughts of everyone in the room, if the multitude of confused frowns and furrowed brows were anything to go by.
"Clarke has asked me to go home with her for the break, and I said yes," Lexa explained.
"Are you sure you'll be okay in New York?" Anya asked carefully.
Lexa resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "I'll be fine, An."
"I wish I got to go to New York," Raven mumbled, and Clarke laughed.
"Maybe you can come and visit over the summer," she suggested.
"Well, I hope that the Griffin family is a better fit for you," Anya told Lexa.
"Something tells me they will be," Lexa answered, looking at Clarke with love-struck green eyes.
"Just don't forget to keep in touch, okay?" Anya looked pointedly at the two roommates, and Lexa stuck out her tongue.
"Don't get all emotional yet, you guys," Octavia chided. "We still have one more week together before we're split up for the break, and I vote that we make it a kickass one. I know studying for finals isn't exactly the funnest thing in the world, but we can study together for the classes that we are all in, and we can make a game out of it, so it doesn't get too boring. Plus, the dance is on Friday, and we all know that will be amazing, so let's not worry about the break right now."
Everyone seemed to perk up at Octavia's words, and Lexa marveled at the way that the other girl was always able to have this effect on everyone. That was, until she brought the topic of conversation right back to the original one that everyone had wanted to avoid. "So, on the topic of finals, since we have literature first, who wants to explain to me what happened in Jane Eyre? I could never even make it through the first few chapters."
Lexa rolled her eyes at Octavia, but she couldn't keep the smile off of her face when Clarke began to explain the book to her friend, and she was happy that she could call the other girl a friend now, too. She was amazed that this blond girl, the roommate that she had vowed to hate forever, had gotten her to open up so much more than she ever had before. No one else would have ever been able to do even that, let alone crack open Lexa's hard shell and show her that losing Costia wasn't the end of the world. This only confirmed for Lexa that Clarke was her soulmate.
Because of Clarke, Lexa was now friends with each and every person in her house, and she had come to be quite close to them. She was closer to these people than she had ever remembered being to anyone else in her life, save Costia, and she was glad that Clarke had gotten her to see reason. The blonde had been right, of course. About everything. Costia would want Lexa to be happy. Costia would be happy to see Lexa being friends with all of these people that they used to know.
Lexa may have wanted nothing to do with Clarke at first, but now she was so glad that the blonde had come into her life. Because of Clarke, Lexa finally had the one thing that she had always wanted. The one thing she had always thought that she would never have.
A family.
AN: And there you have it! I'm sorry that there wasn't as much Clexa in this chapter, but I wanted to include the kickball tournament, and I wanted the focus of this chapter to be more about the bond between the housemates. I'd also like to let everyone know that, as you might have guessed by now, this story is going to be ending quite soon. I am planning on having two more chapters, so I hope that you will all enjoy the way that I decide to end this! Thank you for reading!